Man, it's getting friggin boring here in RBNY Land. Massive holiday season traffic, bitter cold and, worst of all, hardly anything RBNY related going on right now. That so-called Re-Entry Draft, which took place this past Tuesday, was a massive non-event. That said, there are still a few items of interest to discuss.
First off, the location for the proposed Red Bulls training facility, in Kearny, NJ, has finally been identified. See that map above? Right in middle. That's in Kearny, right off NJ Turnpike exit 15W. The 26 acre site is being sold by Hartz Mountain Industries. Check out the aerial view on their site (click on Space Available, then Harrison Avenue (Land) in the drop down menu). According to this article, the land has already been approved for development and, as such, needs no remedial site cleanup (as was needed at the Harrison site of Red Bull Arena). The one catch that might hold this deal from actually happening is that the land is only zoned for commercial usage. That zoning restriction would have to be lifted by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.
Luke Rodgers, the long rumored RBNY target, is very close to signing a contract with MLS. Coach Backe has been trying to sign this guy since last January and it would seem like he's finally going to get him. According to this article by Brian Lewis, Rodgers would be an English Premier League worthy player, if it wasn't for a few key points (chief of which is his off-field behavior). Still, it's a gamble that could pay huge dividends, so let's hope Mr. Backe has made the right call.
The Red Bulls are, apparently, one of three MLS teams in the running for one spot in a proposed strategic alliance (google translation here) between 10 teams from all over the globe (with Manchester City and Atletico Madrid being the biggest names on the list). Make of that what you will, but if we can, somehow, get Carlitos Tevez on loan for a season then I'm all for it (yeah, right).
Red Bull NY owner Dietrich Mateschitz has been named Most Influential Person In The Business Of Sport for 2010 by Sport Business International. Congratulations to the great man!
Finally, congratulations as well to Dane Richards, who led Jamaica to the 2010 Digicel Caribbean Cup championship and to Juan Agudelo, who continues his run of fine form with the Generation Adidas squad in Spain.
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